Todos os capítulos de EX-HUSBAND MISTAKE: FROM SUBSTITUTE TO BELOVED. : Capítulo 41 - Capítulo 47

Time flew like a Sunday in Britechester.Twelve hours before the first model was due to walk, the backstage of the Grand Palais felt like a held breath that had started to shake.Stylists moved in tight, fast patterns between racks. Industrial steamers hissed in long, wet bursts, filling the air with hot moisture. Shears snipped in sharp, irregular bursts as last-minute adjustments were made. The frantic chatter of French, English, and Italian overlapped without pause. Rails of the European capsule stood ready under protective covers. The holographic thread caught the overhead lights every time someone shifted a hanger.I stood at the central prep table reviewing the run order when Reza’s voice cut through the noise.“We have a problem. It's about the centerpiece gown. Your immediate attention is needed, now.”I followed her to the sealed garment bag that should have held the lead look for the closing segment. The bag was open. The gown inside—the one built around the most intricate

My eyes were glued on the first model as she stepped into the brilliant white spotlights and the Grand Palais went still.She walked with clean precision, the opening look of the European capsule moving like a held note—organic silk, sharp architectural shoulders, the holographic thread catching the light in controlled flares. The music stayed low and measured. No one in the audience spoke. Cameras tracked her in silence. From the side of the runway I watched the first twelve steps and knew the room had already decided to pay attention.Look after look followed. The collection held its line: heritage technique rewritten into modern structure, every piece carrying the quiet proof of the authentication thread. Buyers leaned forward. Critics stopped typing and simply tracked the clothes. The energy in the glass-and-steel expanse of the Grand Palais tightened with each exit.Then the centerpiece appeared.The re-draped Raven Couture gown—the one that had been slashed twelve hours earlier

Elegantly, the Reinhardt Estate rose out of the evening like a statement that had never needed updating. I stepped out of the car on Levi’s arm, the custom moonstone ring cool and certain on my finger. The gravel drive, the lit façade, the low murmur of a crowd that already knew their names—all of it announced old money with perfect restraint. Levi’s hand rested at the small of my back, steady. The grounding aroma of his Dior Eau Sauvage moved with him, clean and familiar against the cooler night air. Together we walked toward the open doors and became, instantly, the center of every quiet conversation on the terrace. Crystal champagne flutes clinked in crisp, deliberate notes as heads turned. Whispers traveled faster than greetings. Levi kept his shoulder aligned with mine. He did not perform ease. He simply refused to yield space. We had barely cleared the threshold when the matriarch found them. His Grandfather wasn't in sight. Levi’s aunt, Madame Helena Reinhardt, stood with